Some Nights
by Jennifer Campbell
Summary: Back in the Enchanted Forest, Hook gets an unexpected visit aboard the Jolly Roger that will lead him to Emma, but not in a way either of them would ever want. Post "Going Home." CS implied.


**Title:** Some Nights  
**Author:** Jennifer Campbell  
**Fandom:** Once Upon a Time  
**Disclaimer:** Not mine. Don't sue.  
**Summary:** Back in the Enchanted Forest, Hook gets an unexpected visit aboard the Jolly Roger that will lead him to Emma, but not in a way either of them would ever want.

##

Hook couldn't sleep.

Some nights were like that. No, _all_ of them were like that, if he was being honest with himself. He hadn't slept more than a couple hours a night since the curse had returned him to the Enchanted Forest. He had thought that winning back his beloved Jolly Roger would help, but not even the familiar creek and sway of the ship, and the cool breeze that carried the scent of brine and fish into his captain's cabin, could stop his tossing and turning.

For 300 years, revenge had been his life.

Now he had a new goal.

_Emma._ Her name hovered on his lips. Her face taunted him whenever he closed his eyes. Her absence was eating a hole through his soul. Curse or no curse, he could not rest until he had found a way back to her.

Giving up on sleep for this night, he rose from bed, dressed and slid his hook into its brace with a satisfying click. He took his flask from his coat pocket and drank deep, then left his cabin and went up on deck.

The night was clear and with a westerly wind. Waves lapped against the hull. The pinpricks of thousands of stars stretched from horizon to horizon, while a crescent moon rose in the east. The time was just past midnight. Smee had the helm. The rest of the crew was asleep in their bunks.

Hook crossed the deck, up the stairs to the helm. A single lantern swung from a latch, a tiny light against the darkness. "How does she fare, Mr. Smee?"

"Well enough, Captain."

"It's a beautiful night for sailing."

"Aye, that it is."

Smee smiled. He had a broad and friendly face, but under his ever-present red knit hat, his beady eyes had a shifty look that made him difficult to trust. Long ago, Hook had valued that quality. He had liked anyone whose morals were as corrupt as his own. No longer. Hook wasn't that man anymore. Not in his heart.

He might have avoided Smee, but his former first mate had sought him out after their return, and Hook needed all the allies he could get. Even untrustworthy ones. Smee had helped Hook wrest back his ship from Blackbeard, who had taken the Jolly Roger for his own. The rest of his current crew had been under Blackbeard's command and had switched allegiances easily enough once Hook had marooned his rival on a desolate shore. They didn't care whom they worked for as long as they got paid.

But Smee was loyal to Hook.

That meant something.

"Having trouble sleeping, Captain?"

Hook grazed his fingertips along a railing. Overhead, ropes and sails snapped in the wind, while the tails of his long black coat whipped around his heavy boots.

"Always," he murmured.

"Don't worry, Cap. You'll find a bean."

"I wish I had your faith, Smee."

Smee laughed, as if Hook had told a particularly good joke. His crew had such confidence in him. More than he had in himself. Lately, Hook had come to fear this quest had become a fool's errand, and him the king of all fools. Even if he reached the land without magic and found Emma, she would not fall into his arms. She didn't remember him. He had no means to _make_ her remember him. To her, Captain Hook was only a foppish character in a children's story.

He caressed the railing again.

"I'll take the helm, Mr. Smee."

"Aye-aye, Captain."

Smee stepped away, eagerly. He seemed happy at the prospect of a full night's sleep. When Hook took his place and grasped the ship's wheel with his hand and hook, the tension melted from his body in waves. He sighed in relief. His ship was home and the only thing that gave him comfort.

Smee stopped halfway down the stairs.

"Captain?"

"Yes?"

He pulled off his knit hat and wrung it between his hands. "I thought you should know that the men are starting to talk."

This couldn't be good. "Go on."

"They say that you spend too much time alone in your cabin. That you drink too much. That we haven't gone on a proper pillaging in weeks. They're getting restless. If we could just find a small village that no one would miss, steal the valuables and the women, burn it to the ground —"

"Enough, Mr. Smee."

"But Captain —"

"I understand your concern. I appreciate you telling me, and I'll think on it. Good night."

Smee put on his hat and pulled it down over his ears. "Good night, Captain."

Hook kept his face carefully blank until his first mate had gone below deck, and he was left alone with his ship, the stars, the water and his thoughts.

Smee's words troubled him. His men expected the ferocious Captain Hook. The Terror of the Seven Seas. He might have to give them what they wanted to buy himself time for his true quest, but he had to be careful about where they attacked. Most of the villages in these parts were under the protection of the Charmings. While David and Snow weren't his friends, they had developed a mutual respect for each other in Neverland. Hook would not terrorize their people.

Back in the day, he had never worried about such things. He had pillaged where he pleased without constraint or conscience. Life had been simpler then. When his heart had been black.

He reached into his pocket for his flask and pried out the stopper with his teeth. The rum's sweet scent filled his nostrils. He lifted the flask to his mouth, but stopped before it reached his lips.

Someone was watching him.

He glanced around. He couldn't see anything unusual, but he _felt_ it. The sensation sent shivers up his spine and made the hairs on his arms stand on end. The same feeling he got around the Dark One, the Evil Queen and, yes, sometimes even Emma. It was the feeling of powerful magic.

But Rumpelstiltskin was dead and Regina in the Enchanted Forest. This person was new.

He stoppered the flask, slipped it back into his pocket and yelled, "I know you're there. Come out where I can see you. Or are you too much of a coward to face me like a man?"

There came a swoosh over his head like the wings of a monstrous bird. He ducked on instinct. Then he rubbed his eyes, sure he was hallucinating. A figure dressed all in black was landing on his deck, astride a flying broom. A ruddy _flying broom_. Never had Hook seen the like. He stood frozen, muscles tensed. The figure turned. She was tall and thin. Green skin and red hair glowed in the lantern light. Around her neck hung a huge emerald on a golden chain.

"Face you like a man? I'd rather not."

Her voice was deep and smooth. A mischievous smile curled at her red lips, and the way she swayed her hips screamed of seduction.

Hook had no interest in that game.

He grabbed the lapels of her black cloak and spun her around. Her broom clattered to the deck. Hook threw her hard against the ship's wheel. He kept her there with his hand and legs pressed against her, but she showed no inclination to escape. She only smiled at him, her eyes raking his body from head to foot. He set his hook against her neck, just below her ear.

"Who are you?" he growled.

She hummed deep in her throat. "You really are as handsome as they say."

She thrust her hips forward into his. She was toying with him. Furious, he pushed the needle-sharp point deeper into her skin. No one toyed with Captain Hook.

"You have five seconds to answer my question," he said. "If you don't, I will slit your throat and throw your body overboard for the sharks."

Her smile didn't waver, but he didn't miss her slight flinch away his hook. "No need for threats. My name is Zelena. As you can see, I'm not from around these parts."

"Why are you on my ship?"

"To make you an offer."

"I'm not interested."

"You haven't even heard what I have to say. It's good, I promise you."

Her eyes glinted. She leaned in closer, slowly, pressing against his hook, until her lips were a hair's-breadth from his ear. Again, Hook sensed the power radiating from her. Gooseflesh prickled his arms.

"Two words," she whispered, her breath hot on his skin. "Emma. Swan."

He sucked in air through his teeth. His hook trembled, with anger and fear, and he fought to steady himself. "What do you know about Emma?"

"More than you do. I know about her new life. Without you. The question is, what are you willing to do to get her back?"

_Anything_, he almost said, but the word died on his lips. The last time he had been willing to do anything, to cross any line to get what he wanted, he had teamed with Cora and almost destroyed what was left of his soul. Could he do that again? Would Emma forgive him? Would he forgive himself?

Disgusted, he shoved Zelena away. He paced the deck, while she smoothed her black dress over her waist and straightened her cloak. A dark drop of blood beaded on her neck from his hook. It streaked down her green skin. She didn't wipe it away.

"So quiet, Captain, when I am offering you a gift? I can give you exactly what you want. Send you to the land without magic. I will tell you exactly where to find your beloved Emma. And I will give you the means to restore her memories."

With a naughty smirk playing around her lips, she reached under her cloak and took out a small blue crystal vial stoppered with a cork. She held the vial up for Hook to get a good look. Inside swished a liquid that seemed to glow from within.

Hook's chest tightened. "A memory potion," he whispered and took a step toward her, hand outstretched.

"Uh-uh," Zelena said.

She rubbed the vial lightly against her neck where the thin streak of blood still flowed. Hook dropped his hand, fist clenched. She was enjoying this.

"If you want my help," she went on, "you must do something for me in return. It's a small thing. Hardly worth your trouble."

"What do you want?" he asked through clenched teeth.

"Bring the Savior to Storybrooke."

He frowned. "Storybrooke is gone."

"A technicality. Easily remedied."

"You're going to cast a new curse?"

He couldn't believe he was hearing this. This was insane, but he knew she wasn't bluffing. This strange green woman who had flown a broom onto the Jolly Roger could do everything she said. She could send Hook to Emma. She could bring back Storybrooke and all that entailed.

"Why?" he asked.

She walked toward him, boot heels tapping a staccato rhythm on the deck. "That's my business. Your business is this." She held out the vial. "You have a choice. You can allow yourself to be cursed. Be trapped in Storybrooke. Confused. Helpless. Or you can rescue the Savior and become the one person in her life of abandonment and disappointment who came back." She stopped in front of him and held the potion between her thumb and forefinger. "Do we have a deal, Captain?"

He wanted to say yes. His hand itched to take the potion and end months of fruitless searching for a portal to the land without magic. To Emma. This offer was everything he wanted.

And yet, over three centuries, he had learned a thing or two about deal-making. Pan. Cora. Now this woman. What they offered always sounded sweet at first, but then they kept taking and taking. Back then, he hadn't cared. Let them suck him dry, as long as he got his revenge.

Now he did care. Too much. Whatever her plan, Zelena intended to cause pain, that much was clear. He wanted nothing to do with her schemes. With his hook, he knocked aside her hand and her potion.

"I told you. I'm not interested."

Her eyes narrowed to daggers. She tucked the potion back under her cloak. "That is a pity. I had hoped we could do this the easy way. I'm afraid you leave me no choice."

She thrust her hand forward.

Into Hook's chest.

He only had time to gasp. He couldn't move. His vision went blurry, every drop of blood in his veins suddenly on fire. Zelena's fingers closed around his heart. The pain was too much. He was going to die.

Then it was over.

He could move again. His vision cleared, and he saw Zelena with his heart pulsing red in her hand. She held it none too gently. Every squeeze of her fingers sent pain radiating out from his chest. He stumbled and fell against the railing, and wrapped both arms around it to keep from collapsing to the deck.

Zelena studied his heart.

"Not black. Interesting."

"What are you doing?" he choked out.

She leaned over him, her emerald necklace dangling in front of his face. "I have worked too long and too hard to let a reformed, love-sick pirate ruin my plans. You will go to New York to rescue the Savior and bring her to Storybrooke, whether you like it or not. The fearsome Captain Hook is under my control now. You are my _slave_." The word rolled off her tongue like something delicious. "If you even think of betraying me or telling anyone who you work for …"

She squeezed.

White-hot pain shot through his chest. His blood boiled, and he could not even find the voice to scream.

"Do we understand each other?"

"Yes."

"Good boy."

She straightened and tucked away his heart under her cloak, while Hook leaned weakly against the railing. As the pain faded, he sensed the emptiness deep in his chest. The negative space. He knew what he should be feeling: anger, despair, fear for Emma and for himself. But the emotions were only an echo, weak and indistinct, as if rising up to him from the ocean's floor.

Zelena picked up her broom from the deck and flipped her cloak behind her as she settled astride it. "Turn your ship around," she said, all trace of seduction gone. "Return to the Enchanted Forest. You have five days."

He would do it. He knew he would. Her desires were filling every corner of the vacancy where his emotions had resided, and he could not resist.

He closed his eyes and tried to feel his heart. "You won't win."

"Oh, I will. You're going to help me. And when the Savior learns that the man she loves has returned to his villainous ways, it will shatter her heart."

With a malicious laugh, she guided her broom into the night sky and flew away into the darkness.

##

**Author's note:** My guess for the show is that Hook's messenger bird will turn out to be Glinda, not Zelena. But this way has so much potential for angsty CaptainSwan goodness. I haven't decided whether this is a one-shot or the start of something longer. Want me to keep going? Please leave a review and let me know!


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